8/03/2010 @ 6:00PM

In Pictures: America's Most Connected Capitalists

America’s Most Connected Capitalists

When it comes to building new, high-growth companies, credibility means everything. Having street cred means having all the right connections. Ted Zoller, executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of North Carolina, culled Capital IQ’s database of 1.7 million private companies looking for the most well connected entrepreneurs, financiers and advisors in the U.S. Our fragile economy depends on them. Here are the top 15, most of whom hail from Silicon Valley and Boston.